Dania Beach Hurricane Coming Down

The old Hurricane roller coaster in Dania Beach, Florida, will soon make its final plunge. The 100-foot-tall wooden ride visible from Interstate 95 will be taken down starting at 10 a.m. March 16, to be replaced by a 1 million-square-foot shopping center called Dania Pointe.

Those looking for a dramatic implosion or souvenirs will be disappointed. The roller coaster will be disassembled piece by piece, and the process could take weeks. Because of safety concerns, onlookers will not be allowed to take home parts of the roller coaster.

The Hurricane, which opened in 2000, was built with more than one million feet of lumber and eight million pounds of concrete. It was known as the tallest wooden amusement park ride in Florida. It closed in 2011, the victim of a sagging economy.